Best low friction surface for table saw extention table

Oil.

Virtually no friction whatsoever.

The trick is to get it to stay on the table. Very tricky.

Clean Cast iron with wax. Or formica over MDF if you don’t have cast iron.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Formica veneer over whatever substrate you choose.

-- There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't!

Formica or any non-textured plastic laminate, or how about melamine?

-- Nicky

I’m also doing this currently, Vern. I’m removing a cast iron wing on my Grizzly 1023 and building a router extension. I have the plate and hardware, just debating on what surface to use. Seems like Formica is the consensus. I’d like to add a hinged outfeed table in the future. So many projects, so little shop time.

-- Jeff, South Carolina

Also there is something called phenolic plywood that you can buy from Woodcraft. I read about it in ShopNotes vol 15 issue 87. I have been meaning to check this out for making jigs and a router table top and maybe even a table saw support (surround) surface. Anybody tried it?

-- John

Melamine works fine. There’s a balance between friction and slick. How slick do you really need? Just enough so it doesn’t bind. Melamine is cheap, glue cleans off it, and you can wirite on it.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

If you check out Niki’s posts you’ll see that he uses engineered flooring for his router table.

-- JP, Shelbyville, KY